Imagine
you are taking a walk in a park and you witness a mugging. What would
you do? Would you look the other way or would you try to stop it? If
you are one who would try to stop it, then what would you do when it is
your government that is committing the crime? As citizens we are told
that we should call our Congressman or write a letter to the editor when
we are dissatisfied with our government. But writing a letter to the
editor is no more effective at stopping the crimes of our government
than it is at stopping a mugging.
On December 16th,
2010, I participated in an act of civil resistance in an attempt to
stop my government from continuing to commit crimes--namely the ongoing
wars of aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the middle of a
heavy snowstorm, I was arrested along with 130 other people in front of
the White House who refused to move off the sidewalk when ordered to by
the police. We were not violent, we carried no weapons, and we damaged
no property. We were, however, willing to disobey the police as an act
of resistance to our government; as a way of saying "No" to the
senseless slaughter of innocent people; "No" to outrageous war
profiteering, "No" to our government's flagrant disregard of
international law, "No" to the squandering of hundreds of billions of
dollars.
Although
it is we who were treated like criminals--handcuffed, arrested and
charged, we are not the ones ordering drone strikes or sending in
troops. We are not the ones using illegal weapons and poisoning the
earth. We are not the ones with blood on our hands. The real criminals
continue unabated, shamelessly claiming that they are "making
progress," and unabashedly announcing that they plan to continue their
crimes for many years to come.
None
of us expected that these illegal wars of aggression would immediately
stop due to our simple action, but we did hope that we would send a
message--a message that there are citizens who do not support our
government's illegal wars and occupations; a message to the world that
we are shamed by the actions of our government and we will do everything
we can to stop it. It is our sincere hope that this action will be a
spark that ignites the consciousness of others; that our refusal to obey
and willingness to put our liberty on the line will give them the
courage of their own convictions and they will also begin to act in
resistance as well.
We
will continue to defy and disobey, to resist and to rebel. We will not
stop until the real criminals have been stopped. We will keep pushing
the public to wake up to the horror of war and to take responsibility
for ending it. We will rail against these crimes of inhumanity with all
the force we can muster. We will continue to try with our voices and
our bodies, to throw ourselves onto the machine of greed and killing.
"Failure
to Obey a Lawful Order" is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty
of a $1000 fine. So what is the penalty for failure to obey
international law?